Torfan
by LivingLow
Summary: What ever really did happen with Shepard on Torfan? Here's an action packed possibility! Renegade MShep. M for language and dismembered body parts.
1. Torfan

Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all its characters belong to Bioware. For this fic that means Shep and Kyle.

Author's Note: What might've happened at Torfan. Renegade Shepard. It's actually an excerpt of another fic of mine, _This Is It, _that I edited to serve as a one-shot. If you like it, feel free to check the other fic out.

_Skyllian Verge, 2178_

"Fucking hell, can't this thing be deployed without having to land groundside?"

"I dunno, you want to try dropping into the atmosphere in a three ton vehicle?"

"I'm just asking why the Alliance hasn't come up with anything better than these damn Grizzlies."

"Rigby, Talens – cut the chatter." Shepard stood leaning against the cargo bay wall.

"Sir." The two men fell silent and continued to wait beside the nose of the M29A Grizzly.

"Lieutenant." Shepard looked towards a small woman who was briskly crossing the bay after just having emerged from the elevator.

"Yes, Engineer?"

"The Major just radioed from the CIC. He says he's on his way down and expects everyone to be geared up and triple checked by the time he gets down here."

"Copy that. Dismissed." Shepard lifted his right hand to his ear. Radioing the rest of the platoon he said:

"All units be ready to roll out in five. Anyone not in line when the Major steps off that elevator gets triple happy hours for a month." Shepard heard the beginnings of a chorus of 'Aye ayes' before dropping his hand back down and beginning to check his own weapons for what must've been the dozenth time. _Right hip Kessler IV. Lower back Storm III. Left shoulder Avenger III. Right shoulder Lancer V. _As Shepard withdrew each weapon from its respective holster he ejected each magazine, checked the cartridges, locked it back in place, pulled back the operating rod until he heard that familiar _click_, and flipped up his sights before restoring them back to their original position. Throughout the cargo bay two dozen soldiers could be seen doing the same thing. Once they had finished and were lined up, the door to the elevator opened and Major Kyle stepped out into the cargo bay.

"Everyone here already knows the situation," he began, pacing back and forth. "We all know what these fuckers tried to pull in the Blitz. We hit them pretty hard then and we're here to finish them off now. They've managed to hole themselves up in an underground compound forty minutes out from our current location. Air assaults have been ineffective. The compound has two entrances: south and north. Alpha and Charlie will be led by me and will assault the southern entrance; the Lieutenant," at this point the Major looked straight at Shepard, "will be taking Bravo and Delta to the northern one. The last wave managed to take out the enemy's AA guns so we'll be dropped just outside their short range capabilities. We take out the turrets, get into the entrance halls, then take the stairs and regroup on the second floor. We can't get any readings on the enemy's exact location but we're betting most of them are sitting right at the bottom so once we're in we work our way down. Now get into those IFVs and let's flush these fuckers out! Hooah!"

The soldiers bellowed out the war cry back to the Major before moving towards the M29s. Four squads, four Grizzlies, each one holding six men.

Shepard stood before his squad's own IFV and waited for the other five soldiers in his squad to get in before climbing into the driver compartment himself.

"Bravo squad is go." Shepard watched the cargo bay doors pull open.

"Delta squad is go." Shepard fired up the Grizzly.

"Charlie is go."

"Alpha is go." Shepard heard the familiar voice of the Major. "All squads move out." Shepard repeated the order into his headset and pulled out of the carrier onto the barren surface of Torfan's moon.

The carrier had dropped them two miles outside the Batarian compound's turret's firing range. Well within their radar, Shepard knew, but stealth wasn't exactly their goal. Alliance starships had been bombing the compound for days and multiple strike teams had already been sent in though none had emerged successful. His was just the next on the chopping block.

"Shepard, you hear me?" Major Kyle's voice crackled over the radio.

"Loud and clear Major."

"Good. Now listen to me: you get out of this place alive and I give that recommendation I know you've been wanting to SECNAV. They'll have you up in front of the promotion board within a few weeks."

"I appreciate it Major."

"I know it. So don't go and fuck anything up, copy?"

"Copy that."

"Good hunting Lieutenant."

"Heavy turrets coming up in 500 yards!….450…" Shepard turned to the Engineer sitting beside him who had just yelled out.

"Rigby, ready the mass accelerator cannon. Talens I want a solution on those turrets _now._"

"You got it LT."

"Enemy turrets getting ready to fire! First volley in three…two….one…"

Shepard sped up the Grizzly, and drove straight towards the turret. He could hear the bullets peppering the outside of the vehicle.

"Enemy rocket launched!"

"Talens where's my solution?" Shepard yelled.

"Ready, sir."

"Then take out that turret!" The Grizzly was rocked back and forth as a series of shots was unleashed on the Batarian compound.

"Enemy rocket straight ahead!" The Engineer screamed into her mic. "Kinetic barriers down 8%!"

Shepard continued driving straight towards the blue ball before finally pulling away, less than a second before there would've been direct impact. He pushed down on the break and turned the wheel violently left causing the Grizzly's tires to skid across the moon's dusty surface. He pulled his foot off the break and slammed it into the gas. The Grizzly was now speeding along parallel to the compound.

Rigby reoriented the Grizzly's main gun and finished off the enemy turret. "Heavy turret down Lieutenant!"

"Still got two left Rigby. I want the next one down in fifteen seconds!"

"Sir, Delta Squad just took down their turret."

"Rigby!"

"Enemy shields are down! Just give me a few more seconds…" Rigby stopped rapid fire and let loose one of the Grizzly's rockets. "Target eliminated!"

Shepard brought the M29 to a halt forty feet from the compound's entrance. "Everyone out! Pinnell, update the Major. Akitsu, radio Delta and tell them to regroup with us ASAP." Shepard turned to his engineer. "Get that door unlocked. Rigby, Talens eyes out."

Shepard unholstered his assault rifle and surveyed the horizon. Within the minute, another M29 pulled up next to Shepard's own and unloaded its six men.

"Engineer?"

"Door's unlocked sir."

"Then let's get the fuck going." Shepard leaned his head left then right to get the crick out of his neck. _Time to get dirty._

Shepard opened the door, rifle out in front of him, and saw nothing but black.

"Engineer."

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Get these lights on." The woman, clad in her black and dark green Mantis II light armor, kneeled down before a console and started tapping commands into her omnitool.

"No can do Lieutenant. The Batarians must have cut the power cables once they knew we were getting in."

"Are you telling me, Engineer, that we have to take out superior enemy forces in a superior defensive position in

"-pitch-fucking-black?" Rigby finished. Shepard shot him a sideward glare which caused Rigby to press his lips firmly shut.

The Engineer looked back at Shepard. "Yes, Lieutenant."

"Fantastic." Talens sighed and began switching his own rifle's sights for a flashlight he had kept in offhand storage.

"All units prepare for low light conditions. Get those flashlights on but they stay dark until I say otherwise. Once we step through those next doors stay low, use your headsets, but keep it quiet." Shepard turned around and nodded to the engineer.

The doors hissed open.

Shepard was the first to step through into the black. He stood still for a long moment, waiting for his eyes to completely readjust to the darkness. Normally humans wouldn't be able to make out anything more than shadows in such low lighting but nowadays Alliance gene therapies included increased light sensitivity. While Shepard couldn't see with perfect clarity, he could see enough that he opted not to use the clunky, vision confining infrared goggles. And what he saw throughout the expansive entrance hall of the compound were dozens and dozens of crates oriented every which way and stacked up nearly touching the low ceiling.

"It's a fucking labyrinth," Shepard heard Talens mutter into his headset.

"We're splitting up. Regroup at the southern end." Even without being able to see, the compound's layout was extremely familiar to him. Not only was it a pretty standard design, but he had also spent hours memorizing its precise layout the day before. Delta Squad, leave two of your men here and the other four split up and take the eastern passages. Akitsu and Pinnell take the passage at my three. Rigby and Talens go right and stick to the wall. Engineer, you're with me." Shepard nodded towards the path straight ahead of them.

Each soldier took a look around at the circle of faces before pairing off and spreading out. Shepard stayed slightly ahead of the Engineer and moved slowly through the darkness. His eyes darted between the metallic sides of the crate surrounding him and the ground before him. Minutes passed in silence; Shepard could barely hear the other men breathing into their headsets. It was then that a soft orange light came from behind him.

"Engineer! Turn that off!"

"I'm sorry Lieutenant. It's an emergency signal from Alpha Squad."

"What?" Shepard was about to turn around to face the woman when his eye noticed a glimmer flick across the floor. He looked back at the Engineer's omnitool…

"All units halt! It's –" Before Shepard could warn the men the area was booby trapped, a series of ear-splitting explosions that seemed to rock the entire hall came from his left. Shepard managed to keep his balance though the Engineer had fallen to her knees. Shepard quickly gripped her upper arm and pulled her up before motioning to the wire that lay just a few feet in front of him. The Engineer nodded and Shepard started sprinting forward.

Meanwhile the crates filling the room began to rock back and forth; the ones closest to the ceiling came crashing down. Shepard continued running forward and sped up as he saw one of the crates about to fall. He slid underneath the falling crate, narrowly avoiding being crushed in the process. He lifted himself back up and looked back to make sure the Engineer was still with him; she was. What Shepard also saw was a broken crate surrounded by a pile of explosives. Now he understood the series of explosions that seemed to be coming closer to him.

"Get to the southern door now! The crates are loaded with explosives. I repeat: the crates are loaded with explosives!" Shepard kept on running, turned left, right, another right, all the while screaming orders into his mic and holding his left hand to his ear.

Shepard made another right and nearly ran into Rigby. Within a fraction of a second he pushed away any shock he felt and yelled, "Move! Move! Move!" over the sound of the explosions. The four of them kept running along the western wall until they came to the corner of the room. It was a dead end.

"Fuck! We don't have time to go back and find another way!" Rigby threw his fist against the wall.

"Which is why we're not. Help me." Shepard holstered his rifle, climbed on top of a crate, and started pushing at another crate behind it. Rigby, Talens, and the Engineer quickly came to his aid. In a matter of seconds the crate began to slide forward and eventually toppled to the floor. Shepard pressed his left hand against one of the horizontal crates and swung his legs over the top.

"Jump over these now! And watch the drop!" The Engineer was the first one over and Shepard reached up to slow her fall. "Move to the stairs!" The Engineer nodded and sprinted past the southern door and into the corridor behind. Talens was the next to jump over. His landing was less than graceful but once he had recovered he yelled out to Shepard:

"LT!" He pointed towards the crates opposite the ones he had just scaled over. Shepard looked over to see the remains of Delta Squad rounding the corner. He pointed towards the open door and, once Rigby had landed beside him, began running for it himself.

The six survivors crouched down against the walls of the corridor and waited for the explosions to die out.

Shepard covered one of his ears and tried to contact the four missing men with his headset.

"Lieutenant." One of the Delta Squad members had come up beside Shepard. "Asimov and Sampson were killed in the first explosion."

"You saw this?"

"Yes, Lieutenant."

"And the two stationed at the door?"

"Still alive as far as I know."

Shepard looked back out into the hall and saw debris falling from the ceiling. "This place is about to collapse. If they're alive they'll go back out the entrance and regroup with Alpha and Charlie."

"Sir."

"Engineer, why don't I have radio contact?"

"All communications are being blocked Lieutenant." Shepard cursed under his breath.

"We could go back now Shepard." Shepard turned around sharply to face the other Delta Squad member. "There's enough time to get back to the entrance before the ceiling caves in. We—"

"No, Specialist. We will _not_ head back. The rest of the compound is still intact and our orders haven't changed. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Lieutenant."

"Question my authority again and it won't be Batarians who kill you. All units check weapons and head to the stairs."

A/N: For those of you who enjoyed this please review! If there's enough people who want it, I'd be more than willing to write up possible Akuze or Skyllian Blitz oneshots as well.


	2. Trapped

"All clear sir."

"That makes eight floors, totally empty," Talens pointed out.

"Not counting the booby traps you mean." Rigby leaned back against the cool, metal wall. The eight of them had been searching floor after floor trying to find pockets of pirate resistance. With both radar and communications jammed, and the soldiers' nerves on edge, the slow procession had worn them down considerably.

The Engineer sat in the corner of the room inputting commands into her omnitool when her eyes widened. "Lieutenant?"

"What is it Engineer?" Shepard's was the only voice that gave no hint of fatigue.

"Communications signals are back up!"

"What? How?"

"I have no idea. It's like the jammer…just stopped."

Shepard put his hand up to his ear.

"This is Shepard to Alpha Squad. You there Major?" Shepard heard a slight crackle before his headset boomed:

"Lieutenant! Alpha. Am I glad to hear your voice. Is Delta with you?

"What's left of them. We lost Krause and Martin. The other two—

"No worries, they're with us. They told us about the explosion. That's why we sent out the emergency signal. We were working on the door when our counter sniper spotted a Batarian holed up in the hills watching our progress. Managed to send a couple others to pick him up, but by the time we found out the north entrance was rigged your communications had already been jammed. The only thing we could get out to you was that signal."

"We manage to get anything else out of him Major?"

"Nothing we didn't already know." The Major sighed. "We'll have to go back to get Krause and Martin before we leave."

"I'm afraid that's not possible Major."

"How do you mean Lieutenant?"

"The ceiling caved in after the blast. They're buried under what must be two tons of reinforced steel."

There was a brief silence on the radio. "Roger that. What's your current position?"

"We're on the ninth floor sir."

"Head to the thirteenth. We'll rendezvous there."

"Wait up a second," Rigby looked at Shepard. "How the hell did they get down there that fast?"

The Major laughed; Rigby's eyes widened. "Yes, I heard that Rigby. Just be glad I'm the officer in charge and not Shepard. We took the elevator once we made it into the compound but the cables were blown once we got in. Whoever did it botched the job though, and we managed to get out somewhere around the twenty-third; been working our way up hoping to find you ever since. We came across the jammer a few minutes ago. Turns out they had to place it halfway through the complex since the thing only has a 200 ft radius. We're too far down to get anything back to the Liepzig though. Anyways, enough chatter. Start heading down now and keep in radio contact."

"Copy that Major. Heading down now. Bravo out." Shepard turned to the rest of his squad. "Break's over boys and girls. Time to get going." The eight of them headed back towards the stairwell and began their rapid descent.

Shepard and his men worked through the levels of the compound systematically, exiting the stairwell before splitting off into smaller groups to check each room. The soldiers worked silently and efficiently, quickly taking out the few Batarians they did come across - mostly those who had come to the upper floors to set up hand mines, grenade traps, and spring guns. Shepard had already seen two men fall victim to the pirate's sly tactics and was sure not to let it happen again.

As Shepard's squad was about to head down another floor he heard his headset start crackling. "Shepard! Shepard, do you copy?"

"I copy Major," Shepard paused and heard gunfire in the background. "What's going on down there?"

"It was my fault. I had all twelve men in the stairwell when these fuckers threw down a couple of grenades. As if the incendiaries weren't bad enough they went ahead and threw down a couple hundred pounds of red sand! The shit's everywhere –" Shepard heard the Major coughing into his mic. "We're fucking trapped so you need to take the west stairwell to our location, cross the level, and open the door for us before we fucking suffocate or get blown to bits."

"Copy that major."

"And Shepard! Be careful. These bastards must be somewhere between your current location and the nineteenth floor and it doesn't seem like they're ready to go down without a fight!"

Shepard took his hand from his ear and turned to the rest of the squad: "Let's move it!" He sprinted full speed towards the western stairwell, practically ran through the door, and turned quickly to the right, his combat boots very noticeably scraping against the floor. He took the stairs two at a time and made another sharp left once he came to the landing. He started heading down the next flight. At the next landing there was a metal door on which was printed the number 18 in large yellow and black paint. He held his omnitool to the console and watched the doors open.

Level eighteen was a lab. The floor was one large room divided by frosted glass partitions into dozens of cubicles. Each cubicle was filled with either lab equipment or medical setups and had a single sliding door that led to the hallway hugging the walls of the room. Shepard turned around and looked at the two surviving men of Charlie squad:

"Keep this door open and watch the stairwell." Shepard was about to give out the rest of the squad's orders when a red alarm started flashing. Shepard, who had grown accustomed to the near pitch black, squinted before crouching down and moving behind a lab table positioned just inside the room closest to the door.

"_Emergency lockdown has been activated. Lab quarantine is in effect. Sterilization will begin in T minus 2 minutes…"_ Shepard grabbed the table in front of him and ripped it around, trying to slide it under the door before it closed completely. He did but the table was crushed under the weight of the door, which snapped shut in a matter of milliseconds. Shepard was trapped inside. Alone.

Shepard's radio came on: "Hey LT you alright?" Rigby.

"I'm fine. Start heading down to the nineteenth. For now your first priority is saving the Major. Once I get out of the lab I'll meet you there. Until I do, Talens, you're in charge."

"Yes, lieutenant."

Shepard looked around and took a silent breath. He held his rifle out in front of him and called back the layout of the compound. If he remembered correctly, the labs should have a filtration vent for airborne toxins large enough for him to move through. Where was the access though? It had to be in one of the walls. Shepard started moving from his position along the western wall. He moved past the first partition, the metal outer wall on his left and the frosted partition on his right. The room was silent, nothing but the metallic voice counting down and his own heartbeat. The red alarms along the outer walls flashed silently.

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass tore through that silence. It had come from Shepard's right and when he swung around to see why he saw two Batarians armed with shotguns. Instantly, he ran forward and, lifting the nose of his rifle, quickly dispatched the one on the right. Before the body had even hit the floor Shepard twisted around and hit the other in the face with the butt of his gun. The pirate staggered backwards and Shepard took the opportunity to reach out with his freed right hand, grabbed the Batarian's face (hearing the satisfying _squish_ of his thumb and middle finger digging into his bottom two eye sockets), and pushed him to the ground. He would've attempted to get information out of him had he not heard shouting coming from another part of the lab. He held his rifle, now returned to his right hand, against the Batarians chest where, as his training had taught him, he knew it's heart would have been, and let out two bursts of shots. He pushed himself back up with his left hand and took a moment to collect himself.

_Why would they 'sterilize' their own men?_ Shepard had assumed there would be no one else in the room and was nearly killed because of it. Shepard holstered his rifle and took out his shotgun. His priority was still finding the vent and getting out of here alive, and the fastest way to do that was to move through the outer hallway even if it wasn't the smartest.

He stepped over the broken glass back into the corridor he had been in moments ago. He turned right and headed towards the northwest corner. When he got to the end of the corner cubicle he paused, hearing another group of Batarians coming down the corridor perpendicular to his own. He held the shotgun against the inside of his shoulder and waited….3…2…1…

He quickly turned around the corner and let loose a shot, sending the Batarian who had instantly found himself inches from Shepard's barrel flying backwards. Shepard started running forward, let the nose of his shotgun drop and pulled his pistol from his hip with his left hand. He squeezed off shots one after another towards the other three Batarians further down the corridor – it was no Lancer, but it was the closest option he had to suppressive fire. Still firing the Kessler, Shepard rammed his shotgun into the cubicle on his right, causing the glass to shatter and fall in a cascade of broken shards. He held his left arm above his head and moved through the falling glass curtain. Once he was in the cubicle he fired another shot into the partition in front of him, repeating the process.

Shepard moved through the various cubicles, shooting out whatever partitions he could and kicking over lab tables trying to create enough noise to confuse his own location. He had stopped for a second to let his guns cool down when he heard a soft crunch behind him. He turned around straight into the muzzle of a Judgment III. The Batarian pulled the trigger and Shepard dropped his guns, momentarily stunned by the incredible force. His kinetic barriers managed to take the brunt of the shot but the force was still enough to crack his helmet down the middle. Shepard staggered backwards into an operating table and began groping for something to use against the Batarian. _Found it._ Just as the Batarian was about to let out another shot, Shepard swatted his right arm away with his left before grabbing onto his shoulder. The shot went straight to the ceiling of the cubicle causing glass to fall down on the struggling pair. The Batarian reached for Shepard's throat with his other hand but Shepard brought the scalpel he had just picked up in his right hand straight into the Batarians wrist. Pulling the Batarian forward by his shoulder, Shepard jerked his head forward until he found contact. His helmet finally split in two and fell from the sides of his head, leaving Shepard able to look at the Batarian straight in the eyes. Shepard used the pirate's disorientation to pull the scalpel back out of his wrist and planted it straight in his jugular. He twisted the small knife violently with his right hand and felt a warm, thick syrup spray onto the right side of his face.

"_Sterilization in T minus one minute…"_

Shepard watched as the dead alien slid to the floor. Blood and glass were everywhere. _Glass?_ Shepard looked up and saw a metal grill in the ceiling. He had found his way out.

Shepard quickly began moving a nearby shelf under the grill. Once he had finished that, he climbed up and, after the vent cover stubbornly refused to budge under his grip, armed a grenade and slid it between the metal bars. He hopped down, took cover under one of the tables, and triggered the explosion. He leaned out of his cover and, content with his work – the grenade had left a large blacked area on the ceiling and a hole more than big enough for him to fit through, climbed back up and lifted himself into the vent.

"Wait!" Shepard quickly drew his pistol and took a quick glance out the vent. From below him, a Batarian looked up at him desperately.

"Look! I'm unarmed! Please let me up! I don't want to die in here!"

Shepard let his upper body lean out of the vent opening. "What were you and your friends doing in here?"

"_Sterilization in thirty seconds…"_

"A bunch of use were already on this floor when your friends fell through the elevator shaft! By the time we found out they were coming at us from below – and we already knew you were coming from above – we had nowhere to go! The others on the bottom level must've figured we were dead anyways and quarantined the floor! Please human, let me up!"

"You're a pirate – probably a slaver and a murderer too. People like you don't get second chances," Shepard said flatly.

"_Sterilization in ten seconds."_

"Then the least you could do is kill me quickly. You know what they mean by sterilization don't you? It means getting showered in acid just before the temperature of the room gets so hot it burns your lungs from the inside."

"Good. I've always felt just shooting people was a bit too merciful. Efficient, but merciful." Shepard saw the Judgment III that had shot him less than a minute ago just behind the Batarian. He blinked and then decided to squeeze of four shots – two to the inside of the Batarians elbows and two to the kneecaps. "Wouldn't want you to get any ideas." Shepard pulled himself back into the vent and began crawling forward. Five seconds later he heard the Batarians still trapped in the lab begin to scream.

A/N: For those of you who enjoyed this please review! If there's enough people who want it, I'd be more than willing to write up possible Akuze or Skyllian Blitz oneshots as well.


	3. Descent

"Fuck! We're pinned down," Rigby shouted as he ducked back into cover. From across the hall a stream of suppressive fire was falling nonstop on Rigby and the others.

"Someone get a grenade in there and flush him out!" Talens was crouched against an upturned metal desk, screaming into his headset.

"I'm all out! I spent my last one saving your ass, remember?" Rigby yelled into his mic.

"Fine. Head to my 10 o'clock and flank them!"

"Flank them? I think you inhaled a little too much red sand Jimbo. Every piece of cover between them and us has been blown to pieces. Nothing but a killing ground!"

"That's Corporal to you Lance Corporal!"

"Are you fucking kidding me Talens? We're about to get fucking killed in a musty fucking basement on some godforsaken moon in the middle of nowhere and you're bitching to me about _rank_?"

"Cut the chatter and hold fire." Talens and Rigby immediately stopped arguing upon hearing the familiar, albeit cold, voice.

"Lieutenant? Why would we –"

"Shut up and do what he says. Don't forget you don't ask questions of a superior officer, _Corporal_." Rigby said. Talens glared at him but lowered his pistol anyways. The two of them peered around the cover they were squatting behind and saw a dark figure drop from the ceiling behind the Batarians on the other side of the room and dispatch them in near total silence. Two minutes later Shepard had crossed the room to where they still squatted.

Rigby grinned as Shepard approached. "If I didn't think it would kill me, I think I might just kiss you commander."

"Let's just be grateful you still have some common sense then, huh?" Talens said, walking towards Shepard.

"Where's the Major?" Shepard asked brusquely.

"About that…" Talens started, his eyes falling to the floor.

"For God's sake man up would you?" Rigby motioned behind him with his thumb. "The Major's alive Lieutenant, though I can't say the same about the rest of his squad."

Shepard moved past Rigby, his face still expressionless. Sure enough, the Major was sitting against the wall, his legs haphazardly splayed out in front of him, his head hung in a confused daze.

"Major." The soldier, who's eyes were nothing like the playful eyes of the man who had initially led them into this battle, slowly picked up his head and looked at Shepard.

"Lieutenant. You're alive."

"I am." There was a brief pause in the exchange as Shepard waited for the Major to respond. Instead, he kept staring at the pistol in his hand blankly. "What about your squad Major? Where are they?"

"I don't…" The Major started, his mouth still hanging open.

"They're dead." Rigby came up beside Shepard. "Look inside the stairwell. Seems like anyone who didn't go down in the initial firebombing either died from overexposure to Red Sand or some crazy suicide run some of them seemed to make. Those are the guys at the top of the stairs who've been mauled by gunfire."

"Major, why did you're men run straight into enemy fire?"

Suddenly the Major snapped back to life. "We were trapped Shepard! Between the Sand and the smoke we couldn't breath! I had to watch my own men suffocate to death! I watched them burn! We couldn't go down because they had blown the wall and the stairwell was full of debris and we couldn't go up because they were waiting for us! First guy who tried – Garza – got a rocket to the chest! Those bastards knew they were already condemned to die and pulled out all the heavy artillery! There was nowhere we could go, nothing we could do. Nothing _I_ could do. There was nothing I could do…" All the sudden, the commanding officer fell quiet again.

Shepard saw that the Major was done. No longer fit for command as his superior officers would later put it.

"There's nothing we can do about it now. Our orders remain Major. We should move out now before the situation gets any worse than it already is."

"Move out? Move out and what? Just leave them here? Can't you see the bodies Shepard? Can't you see them?" Major Kyle got to his feet and gave Shepard a crazed look.

"I see them Major. And they're dead."

"You!" the Major pointed at Shepard, whose face was now thoroughly caked with dried blood. "It's your fault! Why didn't you get these doors open faster? You wanted them dead! I've heard about you, you know! I've heard about what the other officers say about you! They say you're dead! Cold and unfeeling and inhuman! I know about that kid you killed!" _That private was as good as dead when I shot him._ "I know you killed him, cut him up, and turned him into a bomb! And I know you killed enough Turians while you were at it that instead of sending you to an insane asylum – where you belong – they covered the whole thing up and gave you a slap on the back!"

_If only I could kill you right now. _"Major, those are nothing but rumors. The reason I couldn't get here in time was because I was trapped in the lab upstairs. I was about two seconds away from an acid bath. But I got out and I came here. Orders are orders and I don't leave jobs unfinished." Talens eyed Shepard warily.

Rigby stepped forward. "The LT's right Major! It's this damned Red Sand. It messes with your head. The LT's back and he's going to get us through this." Talens jabbed Rigby in the ribs. "No - _you're_ going to get us through this."

"I…yes, yes you're right. I'm sorry Lieutenant."

"Not at all Major."

"So what's the plan?" Talens shifted in his armor and looked at the Major.

"We uh…we'll…"

"We know for sure now that the Batarians are concentrated in the lower levels, Major. And I know for a fact that the west stairwell heading down is still clear. Rigby how are you for grenades?"

"All out LT," he piped back.

The Major started his nodding his head. "Ok, yea. We search the fallen and gather whatever we need and keep heading down together."

"Copy that Major." Shepard motioned to the rest of the squad and started checking over his weapons. _And they call me crazy_.

With Shepard back with the squad they began once again to operate like a well-oiled machine. Shepard took point and called out targets for the Engineer and Talens to use their tech abilities on or for Pinnell and Akitsu to unleash their biotics on. The Major's nerves were to frayed to hit the broad side of a barn; for the time being, there was nothing Shepard could do but keep a close eye on him.

The nine of them cleared the subsequent floors mercilessly quickly. Rigby eventually started keeping a running tally of how many Batarians each took down.

"Ooh! Headshot! That makes nineteen for me and how many for you?" Rigby looked over at Talens.

"First of all, keep your eyes where the enemies are and second of all, there's no way this count is anywhere near fair."

"And how's that, _Corporal_?" Rigby pronounced the infiltrator's rank with a touch of sarcasm as he popped up behind a Batarian and delivered a shotgun shot

"It's just how the squad works. _I _overload the shields and _I _make their weapons blow up in their hands. You're nothing but a kill thief really."

"Might I mention, Corporal Talens, that _we_ overload shields and explode weapons? Plus if this is a competition you guys have already lost. The Lieutenant's already in the forties." The engineer saw Rigby's face visibly fall.

He turned his head away from the engineer and coughed "_Fangirl._"

"All clear." Shepard said into his mic just as the young woman was about to interject.

"Hey LT! Check this out!" Shepard turned towards Rigby who was standing near a weapon's locker on the far side of the room.

"What is it Lance Corporal?"

"Guess the Batarians don't think much about hand weapons!" Rigby gleefully pulled out a long, curved blade.

"Don't take anything you don't know how to use." Shepard walked over and, after taking a quick once over pulled out a nine-inch combat knife/knuckleduster.

Rigby was about to put the blade back when the Engineer called out: "I'll take that." Rigby (along Pinnell and Akitsu) looked at her with a surprised look. "Seriously?"

The young woman cocked here eyebrow. Rigby grinned. "Yes, Ma'am! Any other surprises?" He looked over at Akitsu.

"What? Because I'm Japanese? Dude, it's the twenty-second century."

"Pinnell?"

"I'll stick to biotics."

"Fair enough. I'm pretty sweet in the hand-to-hand department myself." Rigby turned and started after Shepard.

"What about me?" Talens asked as the group started moving towards the stairs.

"Please, you haven't been within twenty feet of the enemy this entire time. Stick to your sniper." Talens was about to protest but, under Shepard's commanding glare, thought better of it.

Shepard led the squad down the stairs and was surprised when he came to the landing.

"Hey! We finally reached the bottom!" Rigby pointed out.

"I doubt it." Shepard stated darkly. "Major, any suggestions?"

The Major looked at Shepard with those same, glazed over eyes he had had since the squad had first found them.

"Right. Weapons up and eyes out everyone. Shepard will take point." Talens watched the Major look back at Shepard for approval. Shepard gave an almost imperceptible nod.

The group stepped out of the stairwell and into the main room. Shepard held up his right hand in a tight fist.

It was bizarre. The room was completely empty. The ceiling and walls were completely barren. Shepard would've said the same for the floor, had it not been for the circular metal plate that stretched from wall to wall lying flat on top of it.

"Move forward men." It was the first time the Major had spoken since being found in the stairwell without being prompted by Shepard.

Talens saw the flash of annoyance that crossed Shepard's face. _If we weren't here…_

Rigby and the others looked between Shepard and the Major.

Shepard stared hard at the Major before speaking. "You heard the Major."

The group of nine moved forward into the room, inevitably stepping onto the metal plate.

Shepard had been braced for…he didn't know what. Something. But as they moved deeper into the room nothing happened.

"Major?" Shepard looked over the man wondering if he had somehow managed to pull himself together.

"Fan out and look for exits." Shepard was surprised by the confidence with which the Major spoke. Had he been wrong? He had written the Major off as broken, irreparable, useless. Yet he seemed…No. Shepard couldn't be thinking about this when the most dangerous part of his mission yet was likely approaching.

"Lieu-Major!" Rigby shouted out. "I think I found something!"

"What is it soldier?"

"I think this is a door. You can almost not see it but see this opening here?"

"Engineer! What do you make of it?" The woman hurried over.

She scanned the door with her omnitool and input a few commands. "He's right Major. But there's no console in sight. I'm guessing the only way to open it is from the other side."

"So we blow it open." The Major said.

Talens stepped forward. "I don't think that's possible Major. Judging by these scans the doors are too thick for any of our explosives to be able to do any real damage."

"Well I don't see any alternatives Corporal. Engineer, set the explosives."

"Copy that Major." The young woman placed explosives along the opening and armed each one. She moved back towards the middle of the room where the rest of squad had moved out of the blast radius. One beep from her omnitool and the explosives went off.

It was at that moment that Shepard felt a warm tingling throughout his body. Less than a second later his back, hip, and hands started burning. "Remove your weapons now!" he shouted out. He reached behind him and quickly grabbed for the pistol on his hip and the shotgun latched on to his lower back. Once he had thrown them to the floor he grabbed for his sniper and assault rifle. Around him the others could be seen doing the same.

Shepard heard a voice come on what must have been the loudspeakers: "_I applaud you humans for being able to make it all this way. Unfortunately, this is as far as you will come."_ The voice, distinctly Batarian, laughed out.

Shepard watched as the weapons strewn across the floor glowed red-hot and finally exploded.

"_Impressed? A certain scientist we picked up while raiding one of your colonies made it for us in return for his daughter's life. Or at least that's what we had promised him."_

_An overload field_, Shepard thought to himself.

"_Let's see how long you last without your weapons…humans."_

Shepard watched as a half dozen hatches switched open each containing three to four Batarians. Each one began simultaneously firing on his squad, still trapped in the center of the room. Shepard felt his suit inject him with adrenaline.

Pinnell's kinetic barrier is depleted almost instantly.

Akitsu releases a singularity in the center of the room.

Talens pulls the Major to the ground.

One of the two Delta Squad members is killed by the first sniper shot fired.

Shepard reaches the northeast corner hatch.

The Batarians start sliding forward, feet first, pulled by the singularity.

Shepard draws his combat knife.

Pinnell manages to unleash a pull along the southern wall.

Shepard gasped as the artificial adrenaline faded from his system and found himself standing in front of a group of four Batarians. He reached for the nearest one and pushed the Batarian's left hand away, allowing him to swing the combat knife in his right hand up into the alien's chest multiple times. Holding the Batarian with his left hand, Shepard swung the knife into the next Batarian's throat and pulled it forward, slicing the alien's neck nearly in half. Shepard turned around again and pushed the Batarian he was still holding forward into the remaining two. Shepard grabbed his next victim's neck with his left hand and viciously swung the knife in his right hand into the slaver's face repeatedly. Shepard turned to the last Batarian and moved his left leg behind the alien's right, grabbed his armor by the collar and rammed his knife once into the Batarian's face, once in his chest, and once in his groin. Shepard let the slaver drop to the ground and ran back out into the main area.

Between the pull field and Akitsu's singularity, almost half of the Batarians had been pulled over the metal plate. Still active, the overload field effectively disarmed the Batarians while the singularity severely inhibited their movement. In the northwest corner, the Engineer and Talens had managed to dispatch their own hatch's Batarians and were using their weapons to shoot down those being pulled in by the singularity.

Shepard kept close to the walls to avoid the effects of the singularity which was weakening by the second. He turned into the next hatch and, using the knuckledusters of his knife to full effect, punched the first Batarian square in the jaw before snapping his hand rightward and driving the blade of the knife into the other Batarian's neck. He reached back with his left hand until he found dying Batarian's gun arm and pulled it forward, firing the gun straight into the chest of the Batarian staggering from the recent blow to his face.

Looking back out into the room, Shepard saw Akitsu lift a Batarian up into the air before Pinnell slammed him back down. Rigby had moved back into the center of the room where he manually finished off any surviving Batarians with deadly efficiency.

Shepard sprinted over to the next hatch where another Batarian waited, his shotgun already out. As Shepard started putting his hands up in false surrender he saw a familiar red blast cause the shotgun to explode.

"You can thank me for that later Lieutenant." Shepard heard from his headset. He made a mental note to buy the young woman coffee sometime.

Shepard moved in, his left hand up near his head, and gave a quick jab to the Batarian's lower abdomen. The alien leaned forward, head down, in defense giving Shepard the opportunity to send one final, fatal blow straight down into the base of the Batarian's neck.

This time, when Shepard looked back out into the main room, the fighting was over. He slowly walked out of his hatch and surveyed the room. Everyone was still there save the two Delta members. Considering the situation, Shepard considered them acceptable losses.

Shepard waited for the rest of the squad to slowly make their way to the center of the room.

"Good work team." The young woman smiled prettily. "But we still need to find a way out of here."

"There's a ladder in the hatch behind me Lieutenant," Akitsu offered.

"Then that's where we'll go. Where's the Major?"

Talens pointed to the far wall where the Major sat curled against the wall. _Guess I wasn't wrong after all_.

"What do you want to do Lieutenant?"

"Give him a gun and leave him here. Once we carry out our orders, we'll return for him," Rigby nodded his head in agreement.

"We can't just leave him up here alone!" Talens pointed out. "Let me stay with him."

"Not happening Corporal. There's a lot more Batarians down there than there are up here. Live ones anyways. Maybe you're forgetting there're only six of us left who can fight. I can't afford to let any one of you stay here and babysit him."

Talens glared at Shepard who responded with a cold, unwavering stare in turn.

"Now show me that ladder."

A/N: For those of you who enjoyed this please review! If there's enough people who want it, I'd be more than willing to write up possible Akuze or Skyllian Blitz oneshots as well.


	4. Ruthless

What do you see?" Rigby squatted down inside the hatch. Beside him, Talens body was half inside the round cut out in the floor around the ladder.

"Too dark to be sure. But I can tell you this: whatever's down here is at the end of a very long, very _coverless_ hallway." Talens' upper body hung upside down in the darkness as he looked through the scope of his newly acquired Lightning Strike IV sniper rifle. "Help me up, would you?"

"What do you wanna do LT?" Rigby looked back up at Shepard.

"We're not going anywhere until we figure out what's down there." Shepard paused, considering his options.

"I may have an idea sir." Shepard looked over the Engineer. "Back on the Liepzig when we were looking over the layout I noticed that the blueprints belongs to Kobol Designs."

"What's your point Engineer?"

"My point is that Kobol Designs is the same architecture firm the Alliance contracts to work on some of their own compounds – I worked on couple during some of my early assignments." At this point the whole squad was standing at watching her expectedly. "Their power grids are built in such a way that they divide their compounds into separate blocks and each block gets its own power cables. I'm guessing the Batarians cut the cables to the upper floors but left the cables to the lower floors intact."

"What makes you say that?" Rigby asked.

"Because they're still down here and because that overload field is still running." Shepard said.

"If you can get me five minutes a console with access to the power grid I can either turn on power to that hallway or redirect whatever power's feeding into the overload field."

"And how would we find one of those?"

"It's easy: just look for a wall panel with this symbol," the Engineer drew invisible lines in the air, "and it means there's an access point behind it."

"I've seen a couple of those!" Rigby shouted.

"Yes, so did I. But the problem is finding a panel on a floor where the power hasn't already been cut."

"Then I know where you can go." Shepard looked straight at the Engineer. "On the eighteenth floor when I was trapped in the labs…the emergency lights were flashing and some synthetic voice was counting down."

"The Batarians must have turned on the power when they tried to flush you out."

"With luck they left it like that," Talens stated.

"You said re-enabling the power would take you five minutes?" Shepard's eyes never moved from the Engineer's.

"Yes."

"So the lights will go on the instant you're finished at the console?"

"Yes Lieutenant."

"Rigby escort the Engineer to the eighteenth floor, fix the problem, and get back here ASAP."

"You got it LT."

"The rest of us move in the minute those lights go on. I didn't come all the way down here just to let these guys get away."

After the other two had left, Shepard leaned against the wall of the hatch and waited.

"The Major was telling the truth, wasn't he?" Talens looked towards Shepard.

"About what?" Shepard kept his eyes closed as he leaned against the wall.

"That kid."

"Yes."

"If you're willing to tell me the truth now then why didn't you tell the Major?"

"I know you're not stupid, Talens. You know very well why."

Akitsu and Pinnell listened on nervously.

"But you admit you're a murderer." Shepard thought back to the first conversation he had ever had with the old man.

"I killed him because he asked me to."

"What?"

Shepard opened his eyes. "I told the kid what I planned to do. I told him who he could save and who he would kill. He agreed and even asked me to kill him."

"If he asked you then why was it covered up?"

"Using the bodies of nineteen year old boys to plant bombs isn't good for publicity. We told his parents what _would've_ killed I'm if I hadn't cut short the process."

"They deserved the truth!"

"What they deserved to be even more unhappy? They deserved the chance to claim that the Alliance is no better than terrorists? What difference does it make in the end? Either way the kid died."

"You lied to them!"

"Let's be fair: the Alliance lied to her. Besides lying, just by itself, is not innately a terrible thing."

"You could at least give the kid respect in death."

"Is that so? I've always been one to think that death is the time when one should care least about showing respect."

"Wha—"

"Lieutenant. We just located the console. The lights should be up in a few minutes." Shepard heard Rigby's voice come through his headset.

"Copy that." Shepard looked around at the other three members of his squad. "Everyone get ready. I'll take point."

Shepard stepped in front of the ladder and waited. Sure enough the lights below him flickered on within a few minutes. "Rigby, lights are up. I want you and the engineer back down here in five."

"Copy that LT."

Shepard dropped to the ground, lay flat on his stomach, and slid his upper body down the hole in the back of the hatch. Once descended, he pulled out his sniper rifle and looked to the end of corridor. His sights followed the lights that had gone on, dotting both walls along the floor, until he saw, 1200 meters off in the distance, a Batarian climbing into the firing compartment of a large mounted cannon.

He fired off a shot that narrowly missed the Batarian, instead bouncing harmlessly off the cannon's rigid external shell. "Get me up! Now!" Shepard felt himself being pulled roughly back out the hole just as the tip of the cannon glowed azure.

"Everyone get back!" Shepard began counting the seconds in his head.

_One, one thousand._

_Two, one—_

The shot reached to the end of the corridor, melting the ladder on contact, and sending a blue flame up into the hatch. The entire room was rocked and the squad, unprepared for the shot, was sent tumbling to the ground.

"What the fuck was that?" Rigby shouted, looking back at Shepard.

"Mass accelerator cannon." Shepard responded.

"And by the sound of it, one that's a lot bigger than the one on our Grizzly." The Engineer pointed it out.

"This is suicide!" Talens shouted. "There's only six of us and the only weapons we have must be pea shooters compared to that cannon! Not to mention the only way to go is straight down that corridor. It's a killing ground! Lieutenant, I suggest we move back to the surface and radio the Liepzig for reinforcements."

"Negative, Corporal. By the time we radio the Liepzig and the reinforcements get here we'll have wasted at least an hour. That's an hour the enemy could use to escape which we already know they plan to do."

"The compound layout didn't show anywhere they could escape _to_. And even if we did, there's about a dozen Alliance starships waiting to take them out."

"The layouts didn't show this corridor either Corporal, let alone where it leads to. Our orders remain – we will wipe out every last slaver in this base."

"But Lieutenant –"

"This conversation is over Corporal."

Talens pressed his lips tightly together and locked his jaw shut.

"Now my sights locked on to that cannon at approximately 1200 meters from our current location. We have a just under two second delay between it powering up for its next shot and it reaching our end of the corridor." Shepard switched to his assault rifle as he spoke. "Two seconds is plenty. The shots will come quickly but their trajectory is nothing but a straight line. Keep your eyes open and get down once you see the slug approaching. I want everyone equipped with rapid-fire weapons. Worst comes to worst you shoot straight at the slug; these things are soft – that's it didn't punch a hole through that wall."

Shepard looked around at the squad. Obviously, Talens had stirred up some reticence to go down.

"You hear me soldiers?"

After a brief pause, Rigby stepped forward. "We hear you LT. You lead, and we follow." Akitsu, Pinnell, and the Engineer nodded at the statement.

"Corporal?"

"Yes, Lieutenant."

"Then let's get going." Shepard moved towards the hole and prepared to lower himself down.

"One way drop, huh LT?" Rigby noted.

"Not like we're coming back anyways," Talens muttered under his breath.

As soon as Shepard's feet hit the metal floor he saw a faint blue light start up at the other end of the corridor. "Get back from the hatch! Once the next shot hits I want the next man in here!"

"Copy that LT!" Rigby shouted down into the hole.

Shepard held his rifle against his body and began sprinting forward.

_One._ Shepard saw the blue orb flying towards him.

_Two. _Shepard dropped down and let his chest touch the floor only momentarily before springing back up.

Shepard heard the projectile reach the back of the corridor. As Shepard put his hand against the wall to steady himself – the force of the explosion was so great the hallway seemed to jerk uncontrollably around him – he heard Rigby's voice through his headset, "Going in LT."

Shepard continued forward. Within another second he could see the familiar blue wisp growing at the back of the corridor. A second he later he shouted into his mic, "Everyone drop!" Shepard continued the process for what seemed like ages. After Rigby came the Engineer, then Talens, Akitsu and finally Pinnell.

"Lieutenant, I'm stuck!" Shepard wasn't the only one who looked back to see the bottom half of Pinnell's upper body dangling from the ceiling on the far end of the passage. "I think it's something on my armor. Lieutenant!"

"I'll go back for him!" Akitsu screamed into his mic.

"You will not, soldier." Shepard's voice boomed into the squad's radios.

"He'll die!"

"Better the one than both of you! Now keep moving forward!" Akitsu stood frozen in place for a fraction of a second before putting his head down and plunging in after the rest of the squad.

"Everyone down!" Rigby, who had managed to move past Shepard in the antecedent exchange dropped to the ground. The blast moved through the space his upper body had occupied just an instant ago and went straight to the back of the corridor.

The squad heard the blood-curdling scream of Pinnell being torn in half. Akitsu looked back to where the biotic had been and saw a gruesome sight: Pinnell's lower half had been blown from his upper body and it's remains – those that hadn't been vaporized instantly on contact – were spattered against the back wall and puddled on the floor. Akitsu looked up and could see Pinnell's upper body, still lodged in the whole, dangling, the innards hanging down towards the floor.

Akitsu became nauseated and, struggling to keep himself from vomiting, failed to hear Shepard yell for the squad to drop back down. As he looked back towards the rest of the squad, a bright blue blast hit him square in the chest. Had the rest of the squad not been down on the floors covering their heads, they would've seen Akitsu's body explode instantly. Nothing but blood remained.

"Lieutenant this is suicide!" Talens shouted forward.

"Keep pushing! We're over halfway there!" Between constantly dropping down, jumping up, and sprinting forward, and the incredible heat being generated in the thin passage by the multiple blasts, Shepard was sweating profusely. Shepard popped up again after the latest shot and heard something peculiar in the momentary lull. He could hear a soft whirring and a steady, rhythmic _clank_.

The rest of the squad heard it too. "LT what is that?" Rigby was the one to ask.

"I don't know but it doesn't change the fact that we still need to get to the end of this passage!"

Rigby nodded and continued forwards. When he saw the familiar blue growing ahead of him he readied himself to drop down. He did, but this time noticed something different: the blast had sounded much closer.

Shepard took a brief glance behind him where the shot had fired into the wall behind him and to his left. What he also saw was the young engineer, the left side of her body completely mauled.

"LT, what happened?"

"They shot at the wall knowing the blowback would be enough to kill her." _Her, _Rigby thought. _Damn, and she was pretty cute._

"Keep moving Lance Corporal!"

Rigby did. At this point, the remaining three were only a matter of feet from the barrel of the mounted cannon. The blue of the cannon's tip returned, this time inches from Rigby's face. He quickly moved to the side, right up next to the long barrel, and heard the deafening blast of the slug being released. He groaned out loud, his ears ringing, the world around him shaking. He could faintly hear Shepard screaming for the squad to keep moving. _That's right. Just keep moving. The LT's got my back. _Rigby moved to the door to the firing compartment and swung it open. Inside were two seats, one behind the other. In the front seat sat a Batarian who began pleading for his life.

Rigby grinned. "Sorry. LT's orders." He let off a burst of shots from his rifle straight into the Batarian's head. _Wait, two seats?_

Talens watched as Rigby ran around the right side of the cannon, and Shepard left. He also saw the Batarian who moved out of the shadows behind the Lance Corporal.

Shepard looked through the glass window in the door to the firing compartment. Before his hand had reached for the door's handle, Rigby had already dispatched the Batarian sitting inside. But that wasn't why Shepard was reaching for the handle; he, too, could see the Batarian behind him. He watched as Rigby, flashing his victorious smile, was shot point blank in the head.

Less than a second later, Shepard had swung open the door on his side and mercilessly dispatched the Batarian standing on the other side of the cannon.

All the sudden, the room fell into a complete and utter silence.

Shepard looked down at Rigby's body, which had fallen forward into the firing compartment. _It's almost a shame. _

"Rigby!" Talens rushed forward around the right side of the cannon. All he could see were the Lance Corporal's legs, positioned as if they were still standing, sticking out from underneath the open door. Talens quickly went around and gripped onto the back of Rigby's armor, pulling him backward. Sure enough, the dead man's upper body fell back against Talens' own.

Talens saw Rigby's body without its head. He screamed and let it go, and turned around to vomit into the pool of mixed human and Batarian blood already surrounding the cannon.

"Let's finish this." Shepard walked past the cannon towards the single door standing behind it.

"Finish this? That's all you have to say? Everyone's dead! And all you can say is 'let's finish this'? What kind of sick fuck are you?"

Shepard looked at Talens with a bored look on his face. "Our orders –

"Remain! Yes, I fucking know! What are you a fucking robot?" Talens' throat felt raw from screaming. Tears began to stream down his dirtied face.

Shepard had had enough of the Corporal's insubordination. He walked calmly over to where Talens sat, sobbing, and gripped him by the collar. "Don't forget this is still the Alliance, and I'm you're superior officer. When I tell you to do something, you do it. They're dead, and we're alive. And now we're going to finish this." Shepard's eyes were brutally cold. Talens stared back into them and was overcome by an intense, crippling terror.

Shepard let go of Talens collar and watched him stagger backwards.

"Now again, Corporal. Let's finish this."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

Shepard moved to the door and swiped his omnitool over the console. They hissed open.

The first thing Shepard saw was a single Batarian climbing into a car at the back of the room. The car was situated just inside a horizontal running tunnel that was illuminated with bright blue and white lights.

"Too late, human." Shepard recognized the voice that had come over the loudspeakers earlier speak out just before the car's doors closed.

"I don't think so." Shepard pulled out his assault rifle with his right hand and started firing nonstop towards the car. With his left hand he pulled out two grenades and sent them towards the car. As he did so, he slowly walked forward.

"Get him! Get him now!" Shepard heard the escaping Batarian's voice echo into the room. Yet the Batarians that surrounded him on either side didn't move an inch.

Shepard kept walking forward slowly. Once his assault rifle overheated, he threw it to the ground and pulled the pistol from his hip. With his left hand he continued to throw every remaining grenade he had at the car. The car, which had begun smoking long before Shepard's assault rifle had overheated, was now partially melted and on fire. Before long, the hiss of escaping gas could be heard. Shepard fired one last shot into the car's tank and watched it explode.

Shepard turned to the remaining Batarians. "Drop your weapons, get down on your knees, and put your hands in the air." The slavers did as they were told.

In the far corner, one of them spoke out.

"Please, human. We surrender."

"Lieutenant?"

"What is it Corporal?" Shepard was still watching the car burn, his hands at his sides.

"I'm picking up activity on the short-wave radio."

"What kind of activity?" Shepard turned around just as the single door opened. Instantly, Shepard brought his pistol up in front of him.

"Lieutenant Shepard? We're your reinforcements." Shepard looked at the armor-clad group of soldiers. "Are these the last of them sir?"

"They are."

"We'll radio the Liepzig for extraction, then."

"Negative, soldier."

"Sorry sir?"

"Line up your men." The reinforcement squad leader looked at Shepard curiously before motioning to the rest of his unit. The dozen men lined up along the wall against the door.

"Ready." Shepard stepped back away from the Batarians. They began looking around, wondering what was going on.

"Aim." The soldiers' guns went up. At this point, there was no doubt of Shepard's intentions. The Batarians began screaming – some pleading for mercy, others getting ready to fight to the death.

Shepard looked on the sight with an unreadable face. "Fire."

The room filled with gunfire. Shepard drew his pistol and shot the nearest Batarian point blank between the eyes. Only when the last slaver had been killed could Shepard be heard:

"Cease fire. All units report back to the SSV Liepzig. Mission complete."

A/N: For those of you who enjoyed this please review! If there's enough people who want it, I'd be more than willing to write up possible Akuze or Skyllian Blitz oneshots as well.


End file.
